A gayly costumed and illustrated blog

Halloween costumes and decorations of yesteryear have been my infatuation this October, so this Saturday’s costume (I’m Medusa tonight) will hopefully reflect the old style. What I’ve noticed about, say, ‘20s Halloween, is that costumes revolved less around gore and specific characters, and more around festive dress reflecting common themes of the holiday—jack-o-lanterns, black cats, witches, bats, owls. See what I’m talking about after the jump.

Witch, pirate and girl with a fun head piece and a pumpkin on her dress.

Aside from buffoon, none of these revelers wear anything more than Halloween-themed attire.

Vintage clown patterns.

Vintage clown dress.

“Arabian nights”: Excellent costumes—they also exhibit ‘20s obsession with the near east.

I’m usually a pirate. As much as I love Halloween, I always forget to put any sort of forethought into 1) coming up with a costume and 2) buying the stuff necessary to pull of a costume. But I’ve got an ‘80s blousey shirt thing, striped chef pants, a bandana and boots at the ready in my closet. Voila! Pirate ad infinitum.

I know I’m not alone, because I keep seeing the same default-pirates lingering around the punch bowl year after year. It doesn’t have to be that way. Should Halloweetards like us choose to seek help, there’s the Hallow-meme Costume Builder.

Halloween is lurking just around the corner. So let's stick with the theme and make even the time we waste at work playing flash games spooky fun. Halloween Pumpkins is your basic stacking game variation on Tetris. But it does feature pumpkins and does get surprisingly strategic as things go along. Make it quick, though, cause that damn witch will mess things up for you!

“I just wanted ... to invite you over for a biiiiite. ... I'll be waiting for you ... on the 13th flooooooor.”

The breathing is labored and the voice is cheesy monster spooky. I played it for Nick Brown, who said a couple other people in the office got that message, too. Mine happened twice. Both times, the message played, then there was a long pause, then it repeated.

I just bought a house. A foreclosed one. With giant cobwebs, tumescent black widows hiding behind every cabinet door, and overturned Nordic Track machines strewn about the property.

It’s an awesome house, and it came at an awesome price. But I worry that it could be haunted. Not that the toilets are filling with blood or anthing—it’s just a concern I nurse for a while after moving into new environs. Because, you never really know for sure until you’ve lived somewhere for a while. Why not? Maybe it’s haunted.

Then again, the apartment I’ve been living in for the past five years seemed just fine, but the all-important first two questions of this this quiz are indicating that it’s actually haunted. Shows what I know.

1. Do you seem to lose important items only to have them reappear later in an area which you had already searched?

2. Do pets such as cats or dogs seem afraid to enter certain areas of the house?

Man, I love me some vampire TV shows. But ever since the diamond-skinned, Mormon-flavored Twilight books came out, vamps just aren’t doing it for me anymore. Zombies, which I also adore, are also (un)dead to me due to overuse.

Every October 31, I mentally catalogue the Halloween costume clichés on display at the bar/party/graveyard robbing. Why? Probably OCD. But this year, we’re actually going to put it to use by turning the most common costumes into a bingo game. Since it’s been heretofore unwritten, my list is looking skimpy almost a full year after the last round. Please help me fill it out. (I’ll give you candy.) Off the top of my head: